Instagram Archer of the Week: Jillian Ballengee

Instagram Archer of the Week: Jillian Ballengee

Archery in the City selected Jillian Ballengee as our Instagram Archer of the Week. As part of the selection process Jillian was interviewed about her archery style, training habits and her most memorable events. The amazingly, global sport of archery only gets better as social media allows all of us to connect across the world and support each other.

What’s your name, where are you from and where is your home range/club? My name is Jillian Ballengee, I’m 17 years old, and I am from Parkersburg, West Virginia. I most frequently shoot at Boones Bow shop which is a local shop here in Parkersburg where I like to hang out and practice, I also tend to go to The Bow Shop located near Clarksburg, West Virginia and I like to attend a lot of spot shoots there in the winter and that’s where I purchase all of my Elite bows

How did you start Archery and what styles of archery (recurve, compound, 3D, Target, Field, Hunting, traditional, etc) do you participate in? I got started in archery around five years ago when I saw it as an opportunity to spend more time with my father and my brother, while also getting to have a lot of fun while still being competitive. I mainly shoot compound but I also own a long bow and like to shoot recurve occasionally in my off time when I’m not preparing for tournaments. I participate in target archery, field archery, and 3d archery all throughout the year, in the fall I really enjoy bow hunting for white tail deer in my home state of West Virginia.

What kind of Archery is prevalent in your area? In my area the most prevalent type of archery I would have to say is hunting, the number of 3d shooter has been growing but still isn’t as large as those interested in just hunting. I am pretty much the only one who shoots spots and travels a decent distance for NFAA style competitions.

What is your favorite archery memory? My favorite archery memory actually took place last year when I received first place at the NFAA Indoor National tournament in Louisville, Kentucky. It was the first large indoor spot tournament I had attended and I was especially nervous because I had elected to shoot the adult female freestyle division at only 16 years old, I had been slightly intimidated after figuring out I was one of (if not) the youngest shooting in the division. I had been preparing all winter for this tournament so that I could seize the opportunity to really show what I was made of. This is my favorite memory because the outcome of first and second place was literally determined by our very last arrow, the woman I was shooting against had to shoot an X for her last arrow to tie me, and she ended up missing by just a hair which meant that I won the tournament in my division. It felt amazing for all my hard work to be evident on such a platform.

Where is the farthest you have travelled to shoot archery? The farthest I have travelled for an archery tournament would be to Paris, Texas for my very first ASA tournament. I have been lucky enough to have a friend, Anna Willison, that has been willing to take me to all of the ASA tournaments, so I drove myself about 2 hours to her house and from there it took us a total of around 16 hours to reach Paris, an overall 18 hours for me.

How many arrows do you typically shoot in a week?In the winter I typically shoot over 120 a day because I like to shoot at least two five spot rounds a day to make sure everything is correct whether it’s my form or just how well my equipment is set up. In the summer I don’t typically shoot quite as many because I like to shoot a higher poundage for 3d and with 3d archery the most I have to shoot is 30 arrows a day in competition.

What are your archery goals?I have a lot of archery goals because I feel like if I set a goal I’m more likely to end up actually meeting it. Prior to this year My goal was to be able to keep shooting after I graduated high school and transitioned to college, but early this year I was able to complete this goal and have made the necessary plans to attend Union College of Kentucky this fall and be a member of their archery team which is really like a dream come true. Lately I have had a shift in goals and my main goal now is to be an inspiration to others, because I truly love what I do and where archery has taken me and if I can inspire someone else to chase their dreams and put in the work so as to complete them then I feel like I’ve truly done something, I think it’s truly great when someone says “because of you I never gave up” and one day I would very much like to become a professional archer and be on a platform that gives me more of the ability to make that goal happen.

There are a lot of great archers in the world. Which archer do you look up to as a role model and why?Out of all the archers in the world I would have to say I probably look up to Jesse Broadwater the most because of how versatile he is in the archery community. Not only is he one of the greatest spot shooters but he has put up quite the showing at ASA tournaments this year. I strive to be able to accomplish some of the things he has by shooting different style and being just as great in one as another.

Thanks, Jillian, for your words and motivation. Your archery career is sure to be long and fruitful – Mike